Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Well... as much as I like Blake, I don't think he's going to be able to win. People are just so enamored of Jordin that I don't think he can beat her. I think he's a better performer and he's got a very good voice, but ultimately, I think her voice is better and that's where people will put their votes. It's a shame. Neither one really should win. Melinda should be the winner. But, alas, it was not meant to be. In any case, Blake will be fine. I'm guessing, much like Chris Daughtry last year, Blake will outsell Jordin on their first albums.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Smallville - Good, but the whole Bizarro Clark felt a little bit forced. I had no problem with the phantom wraith stealing Clark's DNA and making an evil twin, but the "bizarre" reference and subsequent rock-face change felt odd. Someone brought up a good point - why is it every meteor freak, stranded Kryptonian and Clark doppelganger can figure out how to fly in about 2.5 seconds, but Clark (who, by the way, was introduced in Season 1, episode 1 hovering above his sheets accidentally flying in his sleep) can't? But I digress. Does anyone really think Lana is dead? No. Lionel is possible, but I seriously doubt it. Same for Chloe. I really hope Chloe isn't, because I really like her. I'd rather seen Lana bite it before her. But in any case, Erica Durance (Lois) has already stated in an interview that Chloe's not really dead.

Supernatural - Can't really comment on it, since we haven't watched the 2-part finale yet. Chrissy never wants to watch Supernatural during dinner because of the unexpected carnage that can happen at any moment on that show. Then, once dinner's over, we're usually in to whatever is on that night. I'm sure it kicked ass. It always does. I'm jacked that I just got the first season off of eBay, too. Can't wait to watch that, too.

Heroes - I was a little let down. But really, as good as the rest of the season was, how could I not be? It didn't really feel like the end of a chapter, as they promised. It felt closer to just another episode cliffhanger. I'm sure Peter's not dead, since he has Claire's power. Matt & DL probably aren't dead, since they showed both of them alive. Sylar certainly doesn't appear dead, since there was the blood trail leading in to the sewer. Not a very big battle royale. My biggest problem, though, was that the entire final scene didn't match what Peter had foreseen. It was at night, on the plaza in front of the building and Claire was in plain clothes. Every time Peter had a vision or there was any reference to the events all season, it was daytime in the middle of the street (deserted) and Claire was in her cheerleader uniform. I'm sure there were many other discrepancies, too. Maybe the writers did it intentionally to show that "the future isn't written in stone" or something, but it just felt a bit rushed. Almost like they filmed the first half of the season thinking that they wouldn't last and the event they were building up to was irrelevant, because they would only have time for half a season before they were cancelled. Then, oops. The show was a hit. So they wrote the second half of the season on the fly and tried to make it decent. Except it was far more than decent right up until last night. Then it kind of... deflated. Another continuity error - when Nikki knocks out Candice (who was casting the illusion that she looked like Jessica), Candice reverts back to her regular appearance. In the previous episode, though, Candice admitted to Micah that she didn't look like that and implied (through what she said and the fact that she was eating french fries and potato chips the entire episode) that she was at least somewhat overweight. I know, I'm a geek. Anyhow, I still enjoyed the majority of the episode more than 90% of television out there, but it was just a bit of a letdown. Oh, and am I the only one who thinks Hiro is Kensai, the legend about whom he grew up reading?

24 - Kicked ass, as usual. I was glad no one else died. I was sure when Bill Buchanan went to help Jack out that he would get killed. Chrissy and I both knew right away when Chloe passed out that she was pregnant. I'm glad she & Morris made up. They're good together. Let's just hope he can stay off the sauce. Nadia is so hot. I was also glad that Bill & Karen aren't going to wind up in the slammer. They did what was right. Josh is so totally Jack's kid. He looks nothing like his "dad" and Jack obviously had something with Marilyn (another hottie!) before she married Graem. Jack's dad is still alive, too, I'm sure. It goes back to the old comic book axiom - if you don't actually see them die in front of your eyes, they're not dead. One problem, though - all the loose ends! What happened to Palmer? What about Charles Logan? What about Martha Logan and Aaron Pierce? It's all good, though.

We'll see what happens on the finale of Idol tonight & tomorrow night. Go Blake!! Oh, and Lost tomorrow night.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Ok, I didn't see that one coming. I think the same thing happened to Melinda that happened to Chris Daughtry last year. So many people just expected that he would win, that they didn't bother voting for him. Same with Melinda this year. Ah well. On with the poll:

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Ok, this kind of shit really pisses me off. Someone actually paid 72.8 million dollars for that??!? What the hell is wrong with people? Intellectually, I get the idea of abstract art. Well, I guess I really don't. I may be culturally challenged, and maybe I should be ashamed to admit this, but before this article, I had never heard of Mark Rothko. I had seen some of his work at one of the D.C. museums (probably the Hirshorn and/or NGA), but not realized who the artist was. I had the same reaction then that I have now, "That's art?" Now, check out the feature on the NGA's website (click Rothko's name above). Some of the work under "early years" and even "myths & symbols" may not be my cup of tea or preferred style, but at least they look like something. Now check out Untitled [No. 4]. Am I missing something? It's a friggin' black canvas! Aye yi yi!

Ok, enough of that. I'm gonna have an aneurysm if I keep this up. Other stuff. Idol. Blake kicked ass last night. Unfortunatley, the judges & everyone else seems so far up Jordin's butt, I'm afraid she'll be staying & Blake will be going home. I don't think there's a chance Melinda will go home tonight. She's just too good.

I saw Spider-Man 3 last weekend and it rocked. I definitely think it suffered from Trilogy Fever, being 3rd in the trilogy, it was the weakest. There were several ways I would have done the movie differently (but they didn't ask me, dammit), but I still enjoyed it immensely.

And last, but not least, Happy Birthday to my friend Al, from New Jersey. You may have seen his wife's comments (she's Julie B) on this very blog! We haven't seen them in a little while, but that doesn't mean we don't wish him a very happy birthday! Have a good one, Al!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Well, the idols were mentored last night by Barry Gibb and they sang songs written, produced or performed by him. The problem with this premise is, basically (as the title of this post says), that disco sucks. The Bee Gees were great... for the 70's disco era. But today, not so much. The songs aren't very good, they don't work in 2007, and they aren't good choices for today's youth to sing. What this amounted to was a fairly boring, lackluster show. No one had a great night, or a great performance, for that matter. Some were better than others and some did better on one song than another, but by & large, they all had rough nights. I won't do a play-by-play. Basically, the only one who could do anything with any of the songs was Blake. He "made the songs his own," as the judges always say they want, but never like. Not that his performances were great, but at least he did something with them. Unfortunately, I think he has the weakest voice of the remaining contestants. Fortunately, though, he's a better performer and makes better song choices. I think Lakisha will go home tonight.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

This week, the Idols were mentored by and sang songs from Jon Bon Jovi. It was a pretty good week. Phil started off great singing Blaze of Glory. Given the recent emergence of Phil's country roots, and the fact that this song was from the soundtrack of a Western, it was an excellent song choice. He definitely worked in some of the country twang into the rock of the song and started the show off with a bang. Jordin, clearly out of her element singing rock, struggled through Living on a Prayer. She looked pretty scary, too, trying to cultivate that rocker-chick look. Not good. Lakisha redeemed herself after last week's shaky performance. I wasn't overly familiar with the song, but it didn't matter. She made it her bitch. I don't blame Simon for wanting to kiss her. Blake took a big risk changing up You Give Love a Bad Name. It paid off, IMHO. It was a star-making performance. Not the best vocals of the night, or even his best, but best performance so far. I think Simon was right, though, that half the people (including me) will love it and half will hate it. But you know what? He did exactly what they ask for week in and week out - he made it his own. In any case, I think he'll have enough votes from last week that he will be safe. As usual, I thought Chris was whiney and nasal. Didn't care for his rendition Wanted Dead or Alive for that, but even worse, that was one of the songs that Chris Daughtry absolutely sang last year and absolutely rocked the house! Chris' version paled in comparison even more. Melinda closed with Have a Nice Day. Not her best, but still Melinda. So she'll stay. It's a tough call, since we're taking two weeks into account for tonight. Chris is definitely going. Lakisha's a possibility, as discussed last week, but I think she redeemed herself this week. Jordin should go, but it will probably be Phil.